Random

• The trip was long but uneventful. We caught a few hours of sleep at Kirk's apartment in San Franciso then took BART over to Betsy's apartment in Berkeley for dinner and to spend the night.

• Cheryl spotted a couple of beautiful large atolls somewhere out there between Guam and Hawaii. We'll have to figure out where exactly they are.

• During the 12 hours in the air I had a chance to catch up on some of the Fuller Seminary podcasts. They've been putting up so much really good stuff lately. ~ Link

"Fuller Conversations" is a bit of a programs promo for Fuller but there is actually some great content in there. I listened to interviews with Kurt Frederickson, Eddie Gibbs (one smart and wise dude), and Ryan Bolger. Then I tuned into some chapel talks and lectures from Rob Johnston and Todd Johnson (great theology of worship summary). And then I listened to Darell Guder's Payton Lectures on missional theology -- excellent summary of his thoughts on "missional" as defining paradigm for the church and what that means for church leadership.

• Hawaii has long been on the tourist radar. I want to suggest that Hawaii should also be on the church's radar. Hawaii is the most "unchurched" state in the US -- yet at the same time it is the state where the church's numerical growth is actually keeping up with the population growth. That, in and of itself, is noteworthy -- but perhaps more notable is that it is all happening in the midst of extreme cultural fusion. In this sense, Hawaii has already arrived at where much of the US is heading. And God is at work there. The gospel thrives. Hawaii is a sign of hope.

• "Economic Stimulus" Guam style -- the checks aren't coming through -- and people are disappointed with what has come down the pipe. ~ Link

• Sean sent me a link to a NY Times article about the Travelodge hotel chain in Britain, which is building hotels from stackable metal containers imported from China. ~ Link

• Making the most of bad theology -- For just $40 a year, believers can arrange for up to 62 people to get a final message exactly six days after the Rapture, that day when -- according to Christian end times dogma -- Christians will be swept up to heaven, while doubters are left behind to suffer seven years of Tribulation under a global government headed by the Antichrist... The e-mails will be triggered when three of the site's five Christian staffers "scattered around the U.S." fail to log in for six days in a row -- a system that incorporates a nice margin of safety, should two of the proprietors turn out to be unrepentant sinners or atheists. ~ Link

• So long to Kinkos -- now it's just "FedEx office" -- branding. ~ Link